2020年经济学人 武装力量(2)

Once volunteers began training they received further, daily questionnaires on their phones.

一旦开始训练，参与者就会在手机上收到每日调查问卷。

They were asked to rate their pain, both mental and physical, on a scale of one to five.

他们被要求给自己的精神和身体的痛苦系数打分，分值为1到5分。

They were asked if they thought of quitting and if they thought their instructors¹ wanted them to graduate.

他们被问及，是否想过要退出，是否认为指导员会让他们毕业。

They were also asked about their sleep, their hydration, their nutrition and their own confidence that they would graduate.

他们还被问及睡眠质量、水分摄入、营养状况以及他们是否有信心毕业。

Dr Saxon's sample proved pretty representative in their rates of completion of the course.

Saxon博士的样本被证明，在参与者完成率方面具有相当的代表性。

As she reports in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, 56% were successful,

正如她在《医学互联网研究杂志》所报道，56%的参与者成功了，

23% dropped out of their own volition² and 21% were removed for a mixture of medical, safety and performance reasons.

23%的参与者自愿退出， 21%的参与者因为健康、安全和表现等原因被退出。

Analysing the data for those who dropped out, Dr Saxon found that neither performance on physical standards,

对退出参与者数据进行分析后，Saxon博士发现，不论是体格标准的表现，

such as hikes or aquatic³ training, nor physiological⁴ measures of heart rate, work output, hydration, nutrition

如远足或水上训练，还是心率、工作输出、水化，营养

and sleep duration predicted who would throw in the towel.

和睡眠持续时间等生理指标都不能预测谁会退出。

Nor, among psychological factors, were conscientiousness⁵, neuroticism⁶, openness or agreeableness relevant.

在心理因素中，责任性、神经质性、开放性以及亲和性也不相关。

But extroversion⁷ (or, rather, introversion) was. Using scores for that parameter⁸ and also for positive affect,

但是和外向性（或者更确切地说，内向性）相关。利用这一参数和积极影响的得分，

Dr Saxon was able, retrospectively, to predict with 70% accuracy who would drop out.

Saxon博士能够回溯性地预测谁会退出，准确率达到70%。

She also showed when the towel was most likely to be thrown.

她还指出了参与者在什么时候最有可能退出。

A majority of droppings out happened just before a series of timed drills, conducted in a deep-water pool, in full uniform.

大部分退出是发生在一系列定时演习之前，该演习是在深水池中全副武装进行。

These drills are designed to test candidates' ability to perform tasks underwater, holding their breath, in a chaotic⁹ environment.

这些演习是为了检测候选人在水下混乱的环境中，能都屏住呼吸完成任务。

What the marine¹⁰ corps¹¹' trainers will do with this information is not yet clear.

目前还不清楚海军陆战队的训练人员将如何处理这些信息。

They could use it to winnow¹² out likely failures before the course starts,

他们可以利用此信息在训练开始前筛选出可能会失败的人，

though that might seem unfair to introverts¹³ who would nevertheless have made it.

虽然这对那些本可以成功的内向者来说似乎不公平。

Or they might choose to identify those who need a bit of encouragement

又或者他们可以找出那些需要一点鼓励的人，

to throw themselves into both the literal and metaphorical¹⁴ deep end, on the presumption¹⁵ that, having done so,

让他们投入到深渊中（不论是现实中真实存在的还是隐喻性的），他们假设，这么做就能

they will then take the rest of the course in their stride. Either approach would, presumably, reduce the drop-out rate.

让他们从容地完成剩下的训练。这两种方法或许都能降低退出率。

What you can be sure of, though, is that the course itself will not be made any easier.

不过，可以肯定的是，训练本身不会变得更容易。

1 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

2 volition   

n.意志；决意

参考例句：

• We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
• Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。

3 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

4 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

5 conscientiousness   

责任心

参考例句：

• Conscientiousness is expected of a student. 学生要诚实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only has the conscientiousness, diligently works, can make a more splendid result! 只有脚踏实地，努力工作，才能做出更出色的成绩！ 来自互联网

6 neuroticism   

n.神经过敏症

参考例句：

• Is Neuroticism an Independent Dimension of Chinese Personality Structure? 中国人有没有独立的“神经质”人格维度？ 来自互联网
• The usual smoking behavior of male had notable correlation with neuroticism dimension. 男生经常性的吸烟行为与神经质维度显著相关。 来自互联网

7 extroversion   

n. [心理]外向，[医]外翻 =extraversion

参考例句：

• The contrast between extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间所作的对比完全是表面的。
• The oft-drawn contrast extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间通常所作的对比完全是表面的。

8 parameter   

n.参数，参量

参考例句：

• It is the parameter of distribution.这就是分布参数。
• One parameter which always comes into play is the national economy.国民经济是一个经常起作用的参量。

9 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 winnow   

v．把（谷物）的杂质吹掉，扬去

参考例句：

• You should winnow out the inaccuracies of this paper this afternoon.你今天下午把这篇文章中不精确的内容删掉。
• We should winnow out the errors in logic.我们应该排除逻辑中的错误。

13 introverts   

性格内向的人( introvert的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Extroverts tend to lack self-discipline while introverts lack courage. 性格外向的人缺乏自我约束力，而性格内向的人则缺乏勇气。
• I an introvert and introverts get drawn in. 我是个内向的人而且内向是天生的。

14 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

15 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。